Friday, November 30, 2018

April-22-2015 "In order to keep the country stable, to keep it friendly to us and to Europe in no case can it be torn to pieces,"

Russian foreign minister Lavrov said. https://censor.net.ua/en/news/333611/it_is_in_our_interests_not_tear_ukraine_apart_but_to_make_it_neutral_in_military_and_political_sense Yep: Russia"to keep Ukraine friendly to us."...............................................................................................4-7-2014 "Assertions that Russia has undermined efforts to strengthen partnerships on the European continent do not correspond to the facts. On the contrary, our country has steadily promoted a system of equal and indivisible security in the Euro-Atlantic area." -Lavrov https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/07/sergei-lavrov-russia-stabilise-ukraine-west....................................................................................

12-17-2014 Perelman asked Lavrov for his reaction to unanimous votes by the U.S. House and Senate to pass the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014. That measure authorizes (but stops short of requiring) military assistance for Ukraine as well as significant new sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, according to Bloomberg. "Congress is a very special group of people,"

Lavrov said. "More than 80% of them never left the United States. They live in their own walls. So I’m not amazed about this Russophobia which is being displayed by the Congress at the moment." https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/dec/17/sergey-lavrov/russian-foreign-minister-sergey-lavrov-says-80-us-/

..................................................................................................................... 9-12-2018 MOSCOW (Reuters) - “We are ready to cover our part of the way to drive the mutual ties from the impasse,”

Lavrov said in an interview with Germany’s DPA news agency published on his ministry’s website on Thursday. Lavrov added however that the situation between the two governments kept worsening due to Washington actions.

10-10-2018 As of 2012, the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine estimated the potential energy deposits in Ukrainian sector of the Black Sea at the level of 2.3 trillion cubic meters (tcm) in gas equivalent. This is about 40% of all Ukrainian energy resources.

Arctic Oil and Natural Gas Resource Basins. The United States Geological Survey has estimated the undiscovered technically recoverable conventional oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids resources north of the Arctic Circle to be approximately 412 billion barrels oil equivalent.

When will humanity awaken to the wiles of manipulation? When will they realize that their best values are being traduced? When will they perceive that even from their earliest training in schools the cum and ignorance of the world have been fostered upon them a delightful tomes of sacred wisdom? The most beautiful cups sometime contain the darkest poisons and frequently these poisons are introduced via the most pleasant-tasting elixirs.

The publishing industry of the world in the hands of a few through cartels and secret agreement seems bent upon pushing humanity into a one-world government, founded not upon ascended master law but upon the decadent philosophies of the laggards. Many are the couriers trained in Moscow who have gone forth in the name of religion, in the name of brotherhood, in the name of Christ to create an ecumenical attitude in the hearts of men. Concealing their real purpose of world control through a world council they espouse noble causes but their motives are dark….

Those who presently enjoy a relative state of freedom in the democracies and republics of the world would under a Communist government lose the simple and everyday liberties they now take for granted. Such a loss of personal freedom due to bureaucratic restrictions that would be imposed upon the people would drive millions to suicide….

Individuals must learn not to believe everything that they read, they must also learn not to believe all that they see. They should also be taught to discriminate, they should be taught that in some matters they are not qualified to judge simply because their capacity for judgment has not been developed along certain lines.

A Ukrainian sailor, second right, is escorted by Russian intelligence agency FSB officers from a court in Simferopol, Crimea, on Nov. 28, 2018. (AP)

Russia’s illegal blockade and closure of the Kerch Strait on Sunday and its violent seizure of three Ukrainian ships are clear violations of international law and of bilateral Ukrainian-Russian agreements. Unlike the Russians’ 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and their undeclared war in Eastern Ukraine, this was not an ambiguous, deniable attack by “little green men” without insignias; it was a direct act of aggression by Russia’s navy and security services against a sovereign state that was acting within its rights in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, whose waters are shared by Russia and Ukraine. These actions can only be seen as premeditated actions aimed at destabilizing Ukraine in the run-up to Ukraine’s 2019 elections and crippling its economy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/11/28/will-trump-let-russia-take-azov-sea/?utm_term=.6ee75f9e0d8c
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11-30-18 The video shows a complex with various buildings in the Yining area of Xinjiang, each four stories tall. The windows are barred and also have netting. Each exit is monitored by three surveillance cameras. The inside of the buildings are highly reminiscent of typical prisons.

“Each room has double iron doors, and the outermost iron door also has guard railing and a keypad lock. Up to 15 people can live in each dorm. Surveying has also revealed that each floor holds 28 dorm rooms and three classrooms,” the Bitter Winter reported. https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/chinas-vocational-camps-employ-draconian-measures-use-360-degree-surveillance-in-washrooms-3467901
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11-30-18 WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has passed a measure which “strongly condemns” Russia’s attack on the Ukrainian navy in the Kerch Strait — and called on the President to do likewise.

The upper chamber approved the resolution by unanimous consent late Thursday....The Kremlin, the resolution reads, must “immediately release all Ukrainian crew members and vessels and to cease its harassment of Ukrainian and international shipping transiting the Kerch Strait.”

The Senate also accuses Moscow of “destabilizing for the entire region” and inviting further escalations. The upper chamber also reaffirmed support for Ukraine’s people and territorial integrity.

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed, on Tuesday called on Trump to cancel the meeting with Putin, announce new sanctions against Russia, and call for the immediate return of the vessels and crewmen, “instead of giving Putin a free pass.” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2018/11/30/us-senate-rebukes-russia-attack-on-ukraine-ships-urges-trump-to-follow-suit/
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11-30-18 Russia plans to restrict the passage of foreign warships in the Arctic Ocean next year, a top defense official has said.

Russia has worked hurriedly to reassert its military presence in the Arctic frontier and secure access to a strategic northern shipping corridor — the Northern Sea Route — between Asia and Europe. The corridor takes about two weeks less to traverse than the Suez Canal. https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-will-restrict-foreign-warships-in-arctic-ocean-defense-official-says-63672
..............................................................11-29-18 The new radar station — which will be able to track ballistic and cruise missiles from a long distance — will be built near the port of Sevastopol, Crimea where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based, the source told the news agency. https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-to-build-new-missile-early-warning-radar-station-in-crimea-63648
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Saudi Arabia spent more than $24 million to influence U.S. foreign policy and public opinion during the 2018 election cycle, according to Department of Justice data made available through CRP's Foreign Lobby Watch tool….In a bipartisan 63-37 vote on Wednesday the Senate opted to move forward with legislation calling for an end to all U.S. military support to the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war. https://www.dailysabah.com/americas/2018/11/30/us-senators-who-tried-to-shoot-down-yemen-war-bill-paid-by-saudi-lobbyists-report-claims

Because the deeds of some men followed after evil they in fact re-created themselves in the image of the sons of Belial, the sons of darkness. Not taking into account this aspect of mankind’s evolution, many have failed to apprehend the mystery of good and evil; and they have thought that inasmuch as God made all men they should recognize all on an equal basis.

It is our counsel in these latter days, as it has ever been, that the children of the light should in honor prefer one another and shun associations with the children of darkness….

The great ocean of divine awareness is linked to the outer consciousness of the most dense members of the race. Thus there are transmitted, in essence, fragments of cosmic intelligence about life which flow intuitively to the least evolved among men. And the proof of this flow of cosmic awareness is everywhere apparent to those who will honestly look.

How great is the value of the devotee in this age, of the man or woman who becomes a city set upon an hill that cannot be hid. How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.How beautiful is the flow of unfolding, the flower of the elect, of those who rejoice even in the chastening of cosmic Law, whose will is ever centered on the plan that God has unfolded through the spiritual hierarchy….How inconsistent it is that humanity, steeped in bigotry and intolerance, should in this day and age of great scientific accomplishment fail to see the order of heaven and the need for the heavenly ordering of human affairs….

The transmittal of God’s goodness to humanity by the many sons of God opens the blinded eyes that they may see the fragrant crystal glow of the Tree of Life, expanding to confer upon the nations and each individual segment of reality all God-good and perfectionment. When mankind join in the service of the heavenly hosts all radiance, joy and happiness conferred and held in consciousness will be seen as the eternally brooding dove of cosmic Peace, the crowning achievement of universal progress….

The Divine Mother cherishes the thought of the moment when the teeming multitudes of the world grasping the bread of Life in minutest portion will take that sacred eucharist into their hearts and let the little gems of infinite whitefire light enrichen their beings. For She knows that this will create an expansive impetus to progress that will drive men confidently forward. Then the native garments of the last Adam will become the comfortable raiment of those who with me can brood over the world with the thought of a just peace, a righteousness exalting the nations and with the one desire that the Holy Mother shall teach Her children the meaning of spiritual virtue and the treasures of heaven.

I remain devotedly yours,

(by Sindelar)

-Jesus Christ: Pearls of Wisdom 13:20

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It is not what man has intended but what God has intended that must be given preeminence….Humanity is ever searching for excuses, and these are easy to come by. We know that the glaring light of true reality is being bypassed daily; meanwhile the slightest stirring is amplified into personal discontent.

Now when the search for God-reality becomes strenuous one must remember in the face of all opposing argument that reality does exist, even though one has not yet attained it….

Patience is a virtue of the first degree. When possessed it indicates to everyone your recognition of the great depths of truth that are of necessity caught in the strands of duality. Patience is God’s love expressed through you that prayerfully attends the flowering of every Christly virtue within the minds and hearts of all people.

One day life will not be dual, it will be single, and in singleness of vision men will clearly perceive the wonder of God-delight. They will establish in themselves that firm direction that cannot be moved. They will recognize the sincerity of purpose. Then the grades not passed will be taken over by the devotees who failed to learn the lessons of cosmic Truth while their consciousness remained in duality….Will you follow me in the paths of regeneration?

Thursday, November 29, 2018

To suppose that one is successful simply because he is able to fulfill personal desires through mechanical manipulation of various mental and even spiritual faculties is a gross error that will eventually lead to the downfall of man’s recognition of and attainment with his God Presence and his Christ Self. This breakdown in the great common bond of infinite Love between Father and embodied son always results in a stultification of the design of life….

In this day of apostasy when all manner of witchcraft and seductive apparatus would devour the soul wise is the servant-son who keeps steadfastly on the path that leads to God-consciousness. All detours are but delays in attainment….

There is no need to be caught in the net of delusion that in amplifying the personal self and its density patterns fashioned after human desires would abort the true path and mislead the disciple….(The infinite) potential is always found in the bestowal of the magnetic fire of the soul. Its expansion is accomplished by a direct apprehension and acknowledgment of the God within whose divine ideas are communicated by Him whose perfect pattern shall be known forever by all who are becoming immortal.

Inasmuch as the flesh that is grass shall fade away, let men tether their beings to the permanence of the divine. Thus the divine radio shall broadcast to every man the God-perfection of the God-Star bountiful in the divine heart. -Leonora: Pearls of Wisdom 13:34

Calling attention to one’s own accomplishments produces a concentration of energy upon the personality and away from the soul from whence radiance of the Source is derived; whereas inherent God-qualities of the soul are like radioactive substance imbedded in and composing the soul, the radiant cloud (potent manifestation of the creative energy or Fire of Spirit) is the soul's own alchemical altar which makes possible the soul’s expansion like unto the expanding universe from the fires of its own central sun out into space….

Do not sully your alchemical results by imposing the dregs of human personality upon any man; rather continue in joyous faith that God will expand and expand and expand the domain of your Self in limitless light and love. -Saint Germain: Pearls of Wisdom 13:12

9-26-18 Problems started upon Russia's completion this spring of a bridge over the Kerch Strait connecting its southern mainland to Crimea....ships heading under the bridge now face lengthy checks by Russian maritime border guards, causing additional financial losses for both ports and shipping companies.

"The check takes three to four hours but waiting for the inspectors takes up to five days," said Mariupol port director Oleksandr Oliynyk. Previously "the ships would be stopped for maybe 10 hours." The result for Ukraine is a significant drop in shipping traffic and subsequent economic losses. Shipping companies lose between $5,000 and $15,000 with each day of delay for a cargo in the Kerch Strait, Oliynyk said. "At some point, the ship's owner will say 'That's it, I'm not interested'."

Ukrainian media reported that the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk saw earnings fall by almost a quarter during the first seven months of this year, compared with the same period last year. https://www.france24.com/en/20180926-russias-blockade-sea-azov-ports-angers-ukraine

8-31-18 Since April Russia has detained ships and interrogated crews more frequently, the State Department said....“We continue to monitor the situation with merchant traffic in the Sea of Azov,” said Lt. Cmdr. Joe Hontz, a EUCOM spokesman. “We echo U.S. State Department’s comments on calling on Russia to cease its harassment of international shipping in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.” https://www.stripes.com/us-monitoring-russian-harassment-of-shipping-near-ukraine-1.545233

7-25-18 Ukraine complained that Russia is using its new bridge to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed in 2014, to delay its neighbor’s ships, exert political pressure and hurt its economy.

Ukraine’s State Border Service said Wednesday that inspections of vessels have risen sharply since the 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge across the Kerch Strait to Russia’s mainland was officially opened in May. Waiting times can be as long as three days, according to spokesman Oleh Slobodyan.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/ukraine-complains-russia-uses-crimea-bridge-to-disrupt-shipping

11-27-18 By taking Crimea Russia was able to build a bridge across the strait separating that peninsula from the Russian mainland. This lets it harass ships and block the Ukrainian ports that export agricultural goods and metal ores, without which Kiev’s economy would crumble. Europe and the U.S. should insist that the Ukrainian ships and sailors be turned over immediately and that Russia give up its illegal maritime claims. The message can be driven home in person at the G-20 meeting in Argentina this weekend. If Moscow refuses, there are options....If the West chooses to let this go, Putin will be emboldened to push his aggressions not just in Ukraine but along his entire European border and beyond. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-11-28/russia-s-latest-aggression-against-ukraine-demands-a-response

Thus, beloved, in the unknowing state--not knowing OneSelf but thinking one knows oneself--it is best, it is advisable, it is the better part of wisdom to choose the mantle of Padma Sambhava placed upon our Messenger for good cause, for ancient service and discipleship unto this holy one of the East. Take recourse in the mantle knowing that it does take thee to the heart of Maitreya and the Western Shamballa, my abode, and to Sanat Kumara and the Avalokitesvara and to the Great One of Mercy, Kuan Yin.

Therefore, beloved, we do place in the crystal of the Earth a mantle of Guru that is necessary physically to save that which is lost. It is the Avalokitesvara consciousness that does descend upon you in this hour taking you into the great spheres and spheres upon spheres of his causal body that you might feel the heartbeat irregular of a planet off-course, that you might know the heartbeat of God, listen to its sound only, accepting no other rhythm or sound that could jolt or take your inner system of light from the true sound of the music of the spheres.

Peace, beloved, peace, beloved. As these are trying times for chelas these are also trying times for the one who wears our mantle, who must feel perpetually the agitation, the sorrow and the abject evil in form on planet Earth and even imported from other systems….

As time narrows to become infinity so options also narrow, and one realizes that at the point of destiny in the nexus where time and space meet eternity and are neutralized by it only the single choice is acceptable. There are no longer five hundred options or two hundred or three or four. One right word is acceptable, one right act, one right choice: to be all light, to pour in the cups--many waiting to be filled--all light.

In the time of greatest darkness of war and turbulence those who gather in our mountain must also know that the pause to ascend by the seventh ray (of transmutation, forgiveness, alchemy, balance) is the key to being in an octave and a vibration of safety….Let the mind become an arrow! Let the arrow be in the hand of the Archer, thy Christ.Let the bow be pulled….

Visualize then the vast Violet Flame Chamber (of the Grand Teton), sufficient to contain all Keepers of the Flame of the Earth and many more, a vast chamber of amethyst and quartz crystal, stalactites, stalagmites. Thus one senses descending from above, rising from beneath pillars of violet flame crystallized in the rock as so many ancient teeth of ancient dragon of Eastern wisdom.

Only ships heading to Russian ports in the Sea of Azov allowed to pass / Photo from UNIAN Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan says that the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdiansk on the Sea of Azov are effectively under blockade by the Russian Federation. "The Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov – Mariupol and Berdiansk – are effectively under blockade by the Russian Federation. Vessels are being barred from leaving and entering," he wrote on Facebook on November 28. There are 18 vessels waiting for entry into the Sea of Azov: four are heading to the port of Berdiansk and14 to the port of Mariupol. Three vessels that have left Berdiansk and six vessels that have left Mariupol are waiting for exit from the Sea of Azov to enter the Black Sea across the Kerch Strait, the minister said. Another eight ships are standing by near the port berths. Overall, 35 vessels have been prevented from carrying out normal operations. Only vessels moving towards Russian ports on the Sea of Azov are permitted entry.https://economics.unian.info/10356585-ukraine-s-infrastructure-minister-ukrainian-ports-on-sea-of-azov-effectively-under-blockade-by-russia.html

11-26-18 Ukrainian naval vessels entered the Kerch Strait and threatened to fire on

Russia’s Coast Guard, according to an official statement by Russia's Federal Security Service. (Above: some of Russian naval ships in Azov Sea)

After the Russian authorities refused to allow the Ukrainian convoy to pass through the Kerch Strait into the Azov Sea, the Ukrainian ships allegedly uncovered their artillery guns, and raised them to 45 degrees, aiming at the fleet of Russian vessels.

Moscow says Sunday’s conflict, which ended in Russia’s pursuit and seizure of three Ukrainian ships, was a planned “provocation” by Kyiv. https://meduza.io/en/news/2018/11/26/russia-says-ukraine-s-navy-threatened-russian-ships-at-the-kerch-strait-with-artillery-guns

23 SEPTEMBER

The Ukrainian Navy's Donbass command-and-control ship and Korets tug boat enter the Kerch Strait under Russian escort. They head for Berdyansk to become part of a new naval group.

It is announced later that the USA will hand over to Ukraine two second-hand Island class patrol vessels to defend the Sea of Azov.

9 OCTOBER

A three-day tactical military exercise gets under way on Ukraine's Sea of Azov coast to practise countering a landing of enemy troops, with President Petro Poroshenko praising the military and declaring that Ukraine is ready to "repel Russian aggression from the Sea of Azov".

18 NOVEMBER

Another ship, the Kerch, arrives in Rostov to join Russia's sizeable fleet in the Sea of Azov. According to different estimates, it comprises 60 to 120 vessels. Some of them, former Ukrainian General Staff official Ihor Romanenko alleges, are fitted with Kalibr cruise missiles.

19 NOVEMBER

EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the crisis. They urge Russia not to restrict navigation and promise to take "targeted measures" in response to the situation.

23 NOVEMBER

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin describes the Western statements about the militarization of the Sea of Azov as "far-fetched" . He says Moscow has no plans to increase its military presence in the area, even despite Ukraine's ambitions to do so.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it "resolutely denies any accusations" and expresses regret that the West supports Ukraine's "confrontational course" on the matter. https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c200g2qa

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25 NOVEMBER (Sunday) Russian FSB tactical coast guard hits the 3 Ukrainian ships, wound men and ships, capture Ukrainians, give some of them a show trial and imprisonment. Most of Ukrainian Navy already had been lost to Putin's covert Crimean take-over in 2014 right after the winter Olympics at Sochi. Ukrainian ships did not return fire but tried to evade on 11-25.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), which oversees the country's border guard service, said its forces fired weapons at the Ukrainian Navy ships to get them to stop after they had illegally entered Russia's territorial waters. "In order to stop the Ukrainian military ships, weapons were used," the FSB said. It also confirmed that three Ukrainian navy ships were “boarded and searched."

But the Ukrainian Navy says its vessels -- including two small-sized artillery boats -- were attacked by Russian coast guard ships as they were leaving the 12-mile zone of the Kerch Strait and moving back into the Black Sea. https://www.tert.am/en/news/2018/11/26/ukraine/2854567

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on Monday urged President Trump to commit additional military assistance to Ukraine in response to Russian aggression near Crimea.

Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the Trump administration to bulk up its security assistance to Ukraine, and suggested NATO increase exercises and its presence in the Black Sea.

The senator said Trump should commit additional resources to Ukraine prior to his expected meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at this weekend's Group of 20 summit in Argentina. "Once again the Kremlin has shown that it only respects a strong adversary that is willing to stand up to bullies," Menendez said in a statement. "At this precarious time the U.S. cannot afford a weak performance by President Trump at the G20, like we saw in Helsinki." https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/418250-menendez-calls-on-trump-to-boost-security-assistance-to-ukraine.........................................................................

-Russian high command https://www.voanews.com/a/4677643.html at 2:05 of clip

-former Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk: (Russia's move against Ukraine at Sea of Azov) came out of the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian troops in 2014, it came out of the invasion of the Russian military forces and pro-Russian proxies deployed in Donetsk and Lugansk, when Russia started the invasion in the East of Ukraine. It came out of the MH17 that was shot down by a Russian missile in 2014, it came out after Russia launched full offensive operations against Ukraine.

At the initial stage Russia’s idea was to take the whole of Ukraine, when they illegally annexed Crimea and when they sent troops to Donetsk and Lugansk. President Putin expected that he will cross the Ukrainian territory on a red carpet. He didn’t expect a strong resistance of the Ukrainian people against the Russian army and the Russian proxies. Initially his plan was to take over Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Mariupol, and I want to reiterate: Mariupol…

-G.G: because it’s Ukraine’s largest port city on the Azov Sea.

A.Y.: Absolutely, and that’s one of the key industrial areas in Ukraine. Then to have a corridor, they call it, to take Mariupol, then Kherson, then Odessa, and to link it to Transnistria. This was the initial plan crafted by Putin’s administration and his FSB. And they decided to go back to this initial idea a few days ago. https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/interview/yatsenyuk-azov-sea-tensions-reveal-lack-of-cooperation-between-ukraine-and-nato/

88. There is a difference between the karma of aggression and that of defense. It can be shown how aggressors suffer the most grievous consequences and how terrible their condition is in the subtle realm. People delude themselves by thinking that great conquerors do not reap bad karma during their earthly lives. But karma has its own timely approach and does not show itself immediately. Life is continuous, and the wise ones understand their lives as a single necklace. -M: Supermundane 1, 1938.........................................................................330. Earth groans under the pressures of murder, aggression and falsehood, and the consequences of earthly delusion fill the subtle realm too. 367. It is hard to express certain ideas in words. It is hard to explain the difference between the power of calmness and the oppressive force of aggression. Only those who have trod many earthly paths will understand the value of calmness, particularly during the days of Armageddon. Calm reigns in our abode, where even the slightest imbalance can cause a great calamity. Calmness should be cultivated everywhere in the world.

11-28-18 That in turn reflects what is perhaps the most fundamental problem of all: Russia simply isn’t sufficiently deterred at present . Recent years have seen escalating American assistance to Ukraine, and a growing NATO operational tempo in the Black Sea region. Yet despite these developments, the Kremlin clearly still has serious doubts about the will of Western nations to resolutely respond to its military adventurism.

All of which makes the U.S. and European response to the current crisis a crucial test of collective credibility. Should Washington and its European partners fail, it will virtually guarantee more of the same from Moscow in the future. https://www.yahoo.com/news/sea-azov-showdown-reasons-behind-155600326.html

A NATO naval flotilla in the Black Sea could "pay a friendly visit to Mariupol," Edward Lucas, a Senior Vice President at the Center for European Policy Analysis suggests"Here Russia has already enjoyed an easy win," Edward Lucas writes. Although some countries – notably Canada – responded with pitch-perfect words, straightforwardly condemning Russian aggression, others equivocated. Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Mass, urged both sides to de-escalate. NATO and the European Union also mixed supportive words for Ukraine and criticism of Russia with calls for "restraint and de-escalation" (NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg) and "the utmost restraint" (EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic). "Most worryingly of all (for us, and most pleasingly for Russia) there was no early response from the United States." https://www.unian.info/politics/10355889-with-azov-escalation-moscow-tests-west-s-response-expert.html
................................................................................................................ A graduate of the London School of Economics and long-serving foreign correspondent in Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, and the Baltic states,

Edward Lucas is an internationally recognized expert on espionage, subversion, the use and abuse of history, energy security and information warfare. He is the author of four books https://www.cepa.org/edward-lucas